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Thread: Need some advice

  1. #1
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    Default Need some advice


    My Father is one of the best fisherman I know. We fish a small lake that actually is just a holler that the state flooded in the 60's, there is a creek that feeds into it. Although it has not been maintained and has pretty much silted in. There is of course a spill way and the average depth is 48ft.

    We can troll and by that I mean just dragging jigs, road runners, and crankbaits behind the boat. Usually three rod on each side. We have caught good sized crappie and good numbers. We have night fished anchored with a green light and minnows, that also has been fairly productive.

    The confusion comes in where we can not locate these fish on structure. Even my Father who has laid them out everywhere from Buggs Island to Santee Cooper is baffled. We have been fishing this lake for years and have never caught these fish off of any kind of structure so naturally trolling is our bread and butter. If anyone can offer any sdvice it would be greatly appreciated.

  2. #2
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    CrappiePappy is offline Super Moderator - 2013 Man Of The Year * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Wink My advice would be .....

    "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" :D

    Seriously though ... let's get the nomenclature correct, first :p What you really mean to say is "cover", not "structure". Structure is the bottom composition of the lake (channels, drops, cuts, bends) .... cover is the brush, rocks, trees, weeds, & other stuff that rises off the bottom.

    If there is no cover, or limited amounts ... the fish may be accustomed to free ranging. If the cover is mostly in the depths of the lake, there may not be enough oxygen to sustain them at those depths (so they stay in the upper water column). If there's cover in the shallows, then it's probably being used .... but may just be being used in the early AM hours, & during the spawn. Clear water may also be a factor, causing the fish to seek out depth for security, rather than cover. The type of baitfish present (if any) could also keep the fish out in open water.

    Personally, I don't see the problem :o .... if you're catching them, trolling (or any other method), with any regularity .... why would you want to mess with fishing around cover (where you're just as likely to hook into the cover, as you are a fish)
    I'm all for "don't sweat the small stuff" ... if trolling or fishing open water is the method that works, then don't worry about why it works ... just use that method, & be happy that it does work :D

    ... cp

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    Thanks pappie
    I apologize for my oversite, I did mean cover rather than structure. We have been following keeping to "if it ain't broke" only problem is this year it did break. So now we have been trying to explore other options. The lake stays fairly clear all of the time unless a big rain comes, it is deep and most of the cover is deep. I am not sure on the bait fish situation. There are bass and bluegill as well as trout and a few catfish.

    I am just trying to get some suggestions on types of lures to use. Also maybe some rigs since we only use one hook per rod. My father is kinda set in his ways and not much for change, but if I can get some new tips and start catching them again maybe he will come around too.
    Thanks again

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    Welcome to the site BlueBuster, first fish run in cycles. You will have good fishing for several years and then it will change and Crappie sizes will change or they will change locations. This will only last for a year or two and then they will be back to what you are use to. That may be the reason your Father doesn't change his strategy. He knows that they will come back to what they normally will do.
    As Pappy has said, fish change habits because of other things in their environment have changed. Temp and food are two of them that will make the Crappie change their pattern. First look for the bait fish and see if you can locate them. As the water gets colder the fish will seek warmer temps and will usually move deeper to find their comfort zone. When you catch a Crappie look to see what he has been eating and then look for that bait and you should find the Crappie not far away.
    The Crappie are probably feeding on shad is why they are in open water. Shad run in big schools for protection. If they would be feeding on minnows then they would be around stucture or cover either one.
    This should give you a couple of suggestions to start with. The more that you learn about the Crappie, or any fish, and their habitat. The better fisherman you will become. EB
    Last edited by Eager Beaver; 01-03-2011 at 09:55 AM.
    DO-GOODER EXTRADINAR :p

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    Quote Originally Posted by BlueBuster View Post
    Thanks pappie
    I apologize for my oversite,
    Pappy wasn't criticizing you Blue, he was just letting you know that there is a difference to what you were calling structure and cover. Just so we know what you were meaning to say. A lot of the fishermen here are seasoned Crappie fishermen and women, and have a lot of knowledge in the art of catching that elusive little fish. We are here to help others gain knowledge in that endeavor. EB
    DO-GOODER EXTRADINAR :p

  6. #6
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    Welcome to the site BB. You mentioned it was a small lake that was a holler that was flooded in the 60's with a creek feeding it and has a spillway on one end. Sounds like it might not have ever had any shad introduced into it if it was really a pretty small impoundment. I would be interested to know if the lake has shad in it. One thing that kinda stands out in your post is that the lake was built in the 60's. I doubt if there is any cover in the lake if it was built in the 60's. There may be some lay down trees that have fallen in the water off the bank but other than that the cover has probably disappeared long ago. If I were you I'd try to put some brush piles in the lake and see if I could get the crappie to come to them. Good areas would be a point that sticks out into the lake. I've also noticed that on small impoundments the spillway area is usually another good area to set brush piles. I think it would be worth your time to spend one afternoon setting several brush piles in 10ft, 15ft, 20ft, and 25ft of water to see if you could provide some cover for the crappie to congregate at. Use your knowledge of where you've caught fish in the past when setting new brush piles. Hardwood brush piles will last for several years and work well for you. If you have bamboo in your neck of the woods it has also proven to be a very good brush pile material. Check out the brush pile building forum and it should give you tons of ideas. As many of the old sage CC'ers always say, build it and they will come. A little work now should provide lots of fun later. Good luck!!!

  7. #7
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    Thanks EB, and CW

    I am laready learning lots. I am sure you guys get these questions all of the time. I really appreciate the insight and I know I am ignorant on lots of things, but I do want to improve my skills as a Slab Slayer! My father is quite the fisherman and some of the insight given so far seems to reason why he hasn't changed his pattern. I would though like to get any advice to improve techniques and chances of catching more and larger fish. During the good years we had a copule days of fifteen to twenty fish that were 16-18" and then the next couple years the numbers went up but size went down to 12-14" this past season though the size and numbers were down. Which further goes to show these fish maybe cycling.

    The lake is small and I do not think that there is any type of bait fish other than creek chubs that may have filtered in before the creek silted in. It is in the foothills so the lake is fairly steep and you can see the rock drop offs into the lake. We usually troll with jigs and roadrunners that are pearl white and the tiny crankbaits. They usually work well. When we night fish we just really kind of guess and where it looks to be a group of fish. Wefish it until we are satisfied of they quit biting. I know we have sank allot of christmas trees and we fished them but never really produced much. I think if we do try putting in more cover for the fish to use. I do worry about the amount of bait fish for the crappie, we sein our own minnows and usually they knock the fire out of them. We have caught some good bluegill on minnows as well, which leads me to believe there is not alot of food in the lake.

    Like I said I appreciate all insights and opinion on the matter. I look forward to learning from some of the best Slab Slayers in the country Thank you all

  8. #8
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    Default Advice

    Blue,

    Any chance there too many people fishing this lake and hurting the population?

  9. #9
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    I fish a 28 acre clear water lake that sounds fairly similar to the lake in question and have found that brushpiles are very little use and believe me i built them in the right locations and tried them at different times of the year,i finally came to the conclusion that these fish like pappy said are open water roamers and are not used to brush plus about 75pct are black fish and they seem to be more structure minded fish and don't always use cover like white fish do.The only type of cover i could ever catch fish with any type of regularity on that lake was laydowns,if your lake has any give them a try and see what happens,good luck.
    For a full line of fluid beds
    soft plastic, jig heads and more see us at

    www.simplycrappie.com

    http://stores.ebay.com/Simply-Crappie

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Olgrey View Post
    Blue,

    Any chance there too many people fishing this lake and hurting the population?
    Absolutely not, see when the state flooded it they somehow did not get the rights to the land. So therefore whom ever owned that land still owns it and it is a state dammed watershed. So it is private and you have to have a key to the gate, it is not state maintained, so there are only about 6-10 people that fish it off and on through the summer.
    Last edited by CrappiePappy; 01-04-2011 at 11:35 PM.

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